Does Bulgaria succeed in abiding the goals and principles underlying the Charter of the United Nations from 1945?
In support of the definitely positive answer to this question, I would go by results of the recent participation of our country as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council in the period 2002-2003. In this responsible and tense period of the international relations – it is enough just to mention the efforts made in the sidelines of the UN for the establishment of an anti-terrorist coalition and the tense session of the Security Council on the Iraq crisis – the Bulgarian diplomacy showed maturity and flexibility in difficult situations, as well as the ability to introduce constructive contribution for the overcoming of differences and the seeking and achievement of consensual decisions.

Almost 50 years after its admittance to the UN, our country has expressed itself as an active and responsible participant in the international politics and has strengthened its role as a full, reliable partner and as a factor for the security and stability in a regional and global scale. As another example, I can point the consistent peaceful, neighborly and balanced regional policy of Bulgaria in the Southeastern Europe, especially in the difficult period of the 90s against the background of the conflict situations in the Western Balkans.

The positive balance from Bulgaria’s participation in the Security Council and the grown confidence of the Bulgarian diplomacy was the main reason for the decision that Bulgaria’s candidature for a non-permanent member of the Council would be raised once more for the period 2018-2019.

Last but not least, I must emphasize that as a country, chairman of the OSCE in 2004, a newly accepted member of NATO and future member of the EU, our country has made its contribution to the strengthening of the role of the UN as a universal international forum that unites the issues of security, development and human rights. The real contribution of Bulgaria to the regional and global security is determined by our participation with military quotas in several key peace operations carried out with the mandate or under the general aegis of the UN – BiH, Kosovo, Afghanistan, the multinational forces in Iraq.

If we look on the issue from a historic perspective and bring it to the more distant period of the cold war, it would be clear to all that the regime of state government in Bulgaria at that time and the ideological and military opposition of the two Blocks had a forming, I would rather say “deforming” role for the positions of Bulgaria, propounded in the UN. I think that in those hard conditions, the professional Bulgarian diplomacy made everything in her power to abide by the founding principles of international law, underlying the Charter of the UN, in particular the maintenance of friendly and neighborly relations, the restraint of threat and the usage of force and the peaceful settlement of arguments.

In modern times we are witnesses of many cases, in which the principles and edicts of the UN Charter and the contemporary international law are a subject to specific interpretation and application. On the grounds of already 60 years of experience of the organization it is obvious that additional “settings” are needed, new interpretations and specifications, especially having in mind the changed character of the risks and threats to global security. The recent natural disaster and the followed human tragedy in the Indian Ocean and South-Eastern Asia placed with renewed force on the agenda the preventive actions and coordinated answers of the world public under the aegis of the international organization for the counteraction of these irregular risks and threats. This is why the current discussion on the reforming of the UN system and its adaptation to the new challenges of the 21st century is of great interest to us. In the focus of this discussion are the propositions of the high-ranking expert group, appointed by the secretary general, alluding reforms in all major organs of the UN – the Security Council, the General Assembly and the ECOSOC, as well as in its specialized agencies and organizations.

How would you define the priority tasks of the OUN today?
The uniqueness of the UN is in its really global agenda, which looks at the world’s problems in their unity and interrelation. The upcoming meeting of state and government leaders in September this year in New York will have as a goal to make a realistic review of the agenda implementation, set 5 years ago with the Millennium Declaration, and to mark additional practical measures for its successful accomplishment. In short I will mark three priority directions in the activity of the international organization.

International terrorism is regarded by the UN as one of the most serious threats for world peace and security, demanding coordinated and firm actions from the whole world public. There isn’t a cause that could justify the encroachment on the lives of innocent civilians. In the political and practical aspect the battle against terrorism is coordinated on global scale by the Security Council and its committees, more specifically the Committee against Terrorism (CAT), established right after September 11th 2001. As a member of the Security Council in the period 2002-2003 Bulgaria had a significant part in the work of these organs. Our country is an active participant in the international anti-terrorist coalition and has signed over 40 bilateral and multilateral treaties for cooperation on regional level.
The work on the reformation of the UN was seriously roused. The situation in the world in the beginning of the 20th century is very different from the one after the end of World War II. More than ten years within the frameworks of different organs the issues of the reformation of the organization according to the new tasks it must fulfill are being discussed. A serious contribution was made in the report of the high-ranking Group on threats, challenges and changes, created by the secretary general. The propositions of the group for reformations in the Security Council and other major organs and the followed spirited debate on them in the General Assembly demonstrate the increased complexity of the issues regarding the reform.

The creation of a more just and secure world is unthinkable without the solution of the fundamental economical and social problems which humanity confronts in the beginning of the 21st century. The Millennium Goals, which include eradication of hunger and poverty, education, sex parity, the battle with the dissemination of the most dangerous diseases like AIDS, the protection of the environment and the fulfillment of partnership initiatives for the sake of development, lie in the base of the enormous in volume and spread work of the organization in the economical and social field. At present, after the publication of the “Practical plan for the accomplishment of the Millennium Goals” report (the so called report “Sax”), an animated discussion with the participation of the member countries and other international organizations on the necessary correctives and additions in the assumed approaches is in progress.

What are the closest plans of your directorate in the field of international economical and social cooperation?
Bulgaria has always striven to participate equivalently in the activities of the UN in the economical and social field. An example of this is our participation in the preparation and carrying out of several important forums, organized by the UN – the International Conference for Financing the Development (Monterey, 2002), the Summit on Sustainable Development (Johannesburg, 2002) and the Summit on Informational Society (Geneva, 2004). An expression of Bulgaria’s ambition for a more active participation in the work of the UN in this dimension is the raised candidature of our country for a membership in the Economical and Social Council of the UN (ECOSOC) for the period 2007-2009. We have reasons to be optimistic about the support we receive from the member countries.

Another important task is the upcoming building of a national capacity for supporting the developing countries according to the obligations we are to accept as a future donor country in the boundaries of the EU. The activities concerning international development occupy a significant place in the UN agenda. The accomplishment of a better coordination between the national institutions in this field will aid the future successful inclusion of our country in the programs for development, in the boundaries of the EU. In this context we expect our interaction with the UN Development Program (UNDP) to continue. The experience we had so far from the cooperation includes the realization of over 50 projects in fields like environmental protection the and energetics, overcoming poverty and creating new jobs, building a capacity for administrative and agricultural management, assistance for the successful applying of informational technologies. Our cooperation with the UNDP will continue in the period of our integration in the EU, the specifics of which is shown in the project of a new program for cooperation between Bulgaria and UNDP in the period 2006-2009.

Juliana Tomova